Facebook transmits user IDs to external companies via apps

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that all 10 of the most popular apps on Facebook transmitted user IDs to outside companies in violation of Facebook's privacy policy and sometimes even their own.

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that all 10 of the most popular apps on Facebook transmitted user IDs to outside companies in violation of Facebook's privacy policy and sometimes even their own.

Included on that list is Zynga, operator of FarmVille, FrontierVille, and Texas Hold 'Em Poker. The Journal alleges that Zynga transmitted personal information about its users' friends to outside companies. The article does not say to which companies this information went, though it does call out LOLapps for transmitting user data to profile-selling site, RapLeaf.

Toward the end of the article, an unnamed Zynga spokeswoman told the Journal that Zynga has a strict policy of "not passing personally identifiable information" to third parties. Nowhere does this spokeswoman address the Journal's assertion that Zynga did.

We've reached out to Zynga for clarification on the issue. Study up on the Facebook privacy policies here and Zynga's privacy policy here.